Human Growth and Development

HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT: INTRODUCTION TO LIFECYCLE Definition: Human growth and development refers to change or growth that occurs in human beings with age. It starts with infancy and continues to adulthood. The scientific study of changes in human behavior and mental processes in the process of development is referred to as developmental psychology. Changes in human development are often divided into three main areas. These include physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development. Dividing development into these areas makes it easier to study. Areas of Human Growth and Development 1. Physical Development In this section we will discuss physical development. This refers to physical body changes which occur in a relatively stable, predictable sequence and in an orderly manner. These changes include; changes in bone thickness, vision, hearing, and muscle. Height and weight also form part of it. Actually, height and weight are the most obvious signs of physical development. Physical skills, such as crawling, walking, and writing, are the result of physical development.These skills fall into two main categories: Gross-motor development which involves improvement of skills using the large muscles in the legs and arms. Such activities as running, skipping, and bike riding fall into this category. Fine-motor development involves the small muscles of the hands and fingers. Grasping, holding, cutting, and drawing are some activities that require fine motor development. Environmental factors may affect what children can do physically. These factors include proper nutrition and appropriate toys and activities. It is possible to find children of the same age but whose physical development is obviously different. This can be brought about by the genetical make up as well as the environmental factors. 2. Cognitive Development This refers to processes people use to gain knowledge. This includes; Language, thought, reasoning, and imagination are all included. Identifying colors and knowing the difference between one and many are examples of cognitive tasks. Language and thought are a result of cognitive development. These two skills are closely related. Both are needed for planning, remembering, and problem solving. As children mature and gain experience with their world, these skills develop. Children are born with the potential for cognitive process that unfolds as they mature. 0-2 years develop schemas enabling them to separate themselves as observers from the objects in the environment hence object permanence. They start learning language. 3-4years play about with symbols. Logical thinking starts developing from age 4 years as concrete operation and later during and after adolescence as formal operation. Creative thinking (fluid intelligence increases with age to mid adulthood and then starts declining while experiential intelligence (Crystalized intelligence) increase but the rate of increasing reduces at old age. s 3. Social and Emotional Development Social-emotional development includes the child’s experience, expression, and management of emotions and the ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others (Cohen and others 2005). It encompasses both intra- and interpersonal processes. Social development refers to child's ability to make and maintain relationships. The core features of emotional development include the ability to identify and understand one’s own feelings, to accurately read and comprehend emotional states in others, to manage strong emotions and their expression in a constructive manner, to regulate one’s own behavior, to develop empathy for others, and to establish and maintain relationships. (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child 2004, 2) In learning to recognize, label, manage, and communicate their emotions and to perceive and attempt to understand the emotions of others, children build skills that connect them with family, peers, teachers, and the community. These growing capacities help young children to become competent in negotiating increasingly complex social interactions, to participate effectively in relationships and group activities, and to reap the benefits of social support crucial to healthy human development and functioning. Research has revealed that during pregnancy children are in contact with the external environment through their senses and these experiences influence how they respond to social contexts later in life. After birth neonates 0-1yr develop primary attachment with the care giver. This attachment can be secure (healthy) or insecure (insecure). A secure attachment; 1) Promotes a positive relationship between a child and caregiver, 2) Decreases risk for social and emotional problems later in childhood and adulthood, 3) Encourages healthy relationships outside the home (e.g., child-care providers, friends, other adults) and 4) Fosters positive, trusting relationships in middle childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Infants experience, express, and perceive emotions before they fully understand them. A 2-3 months old infant is soothed and smiles at the voice of an adult. When the caregiver talks to the child, he/she will fixate on the face of the loved one. Engages sensorimotor play to discover themselves. 3-6 months an infant smiles spontaneously show primary emotions and engage in solitary play. 6-9 months infants show wider emotional range and is selective preferring familiar people. 9-12 months show anxiety when separated from caregiver, imitates and self regulates. Engages in parallel play. 1-2 years develops strong sense of self and direct others to do things. Develops basic emotional vocabularies and they self-assert. 3-4 years develop interest in other children. They initiate and join in play with others and share. Social play develops. 5-7 years intensifies social play. They develop friendships and enjoy being with friends. They identify their gender and start learning gender roles. 7-11yrs develop competence. They engage in competition play. They understand rules and regulations and abide to maintain order in play and friendship groups. 12-19 experiences emotional imbalance, friends become more important they value privacy and freedom develop personal principles and self-identity. 20-35yrs emotionally differentiate with family members and gain socio-economic independence and engage in wide variety of relationships in family, workplace friendship etc. They gain emotional stability and have a variety of problem solving skills. 35-65yrs work and family relationships become central. Are calm and are experienced in problem solving not only in the family but in the society as well. 65+ change of roles where they change from caregiving to being taken care of. They revisit past relationships and seek to mend fences. They return back to families and deal with losses of abilities and relationships. A child cooperates with others during early childhood and begins to develop conflict resolution skills while emotional development, on the other hand, involves feelings and expression of feelings Strategies of improving social-emotional development in children  Lead by example, by modeling positive behaviors  Be affectionate  Be considerate of feelings, wants and needs  Express interest in daily activities  Respect their viewpoints  Express pride in accomplishments  Provide encouragement and support during times of stress Nature Versus Nurture Our behaviours depend as much on nature as it does on the environment in which your child is reared. This concept is referred to as "nature versus nurture." Genetic makeup is inherited from his parents and set at conception. These genetic traits determine the potential for such matters as height and general muscle development; this is nature's influence. A gene is the basic physical and functional unit of heredity. Genes, which are made up of DNA, act as instructions to make molecules called proteins. In humans, genes vary in size from a few hundred DNA bases to more than 2 million bases. The Human Genome Project has estimated that humans have between 20,000 and 25,000 genes. Every person has two copies of each gene, one inherited from each parent. Most genes are the same in all people, but a small number of genes (less than 1 percent of the total) are slightly different between people. Alleles are forms of the same gene with small differences in their sequence of DNA bases. These small differences contribute to each person’s unique physical features. Genetical predisposition can be explained in two ways: genotype and phenotype. GENOTYPE" is an organism's full hereditary information. "Phenotype" is an organism's actual observed properties, such as morphology, development, or behavior. Nurture: a person’s environment and experiences, influences our behaviours. We learn behavior from our environment through classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social learning because his environment is the framework in which we physically interact with the world. Principles of Development In the other sections we looked at areas of development and acknowledged that children are unique and may not develp in exactly the same way. Although each child is unique, the basic patterns, or principles, of growth and development are universal, predictable, and orderly. We shall hereby discuss the principles of child development that make development follow a predictable pattern. Knowledge of the principles of development help you;     a. b. c. Understand that the order or sequence of development in children is generally the same. However, each child develops at his or her own rate. Observe what abilities each child has gained. Plan appropriate activities that aid children in successfully developing new skills Through careful observation and interaction with children, researchers and those who work with children understand the characteristics of the principles that follow. Cephalocaudal principle: Development tends to proceed from the head downward. According to this principle, the child first gains control of the head, then the arms, then the legs. Infants gain control of head and face movements within the first two months after birth. In the next few months, they are able to lift themselves up using their arms. By 6 to 12 months of age, infants start to gain leg control and may be able to crawl, stand, or walk. Proximodistal principle: Development also proceeds from the center of the body outward according to the In this case, the spinal cord develops before other parts of the body. The child’s arms develop before the hands, and the hands and feet develop before the fingers and toes. Fingers and toes are the last to develop. Principle of maturation: Maturation refers to the sequence of biological changes in children. These orderly changes give children new abilities. Much of the maturation depends on changes in the brain and the nervous system. These changes assist children to improve their thinking abilities and motor skills. A rich learning environment helps children develop to their potential. Children must mature to a certain point before they can gain some skills, For instance, the brain of a four-month-old has not matured enough to allow the child to use words. A four-month-old will babble and coo. However, by two years of age, with the help of others, the child will be able to say and understand many words. This is an example of how cognitive development occurs from simple tasks to more complex tasks. Likewise, physical skills develop from general to specific movements. For example, think about the way an infant waves its arms and legs. In a young infant, these movements are random. In several months, the infant will likely be able to grab a block with his or her whole hand. In a little more time, the same infant will grasp a block with the thumb and forefinger. Research in Human Growth and Development The physical, cognitive, social, and emotional growth that takes place though life sets the foundation for success or failure in learning and life. Research in Human growth and development is therefore important since with that knowledge, you can better identify, interpret, and respond to a individual differences. Whatever your field, you’ll be prepared to respond effectively to the needs, challenges, and capacities of children and their families, helping them get the best start in life. Measurement Techniques Used in Developmental Research We will now look at the various methods used in research with human growth and development. The first task a developmental psychology researcher has is to decide on a research method by which to collect information. No matter which method is used, it the research should be conducted according to scientifically accepted procedures. The type of method the researcher chooses is driven by several factors:     The hypothesis that is being tested or the research question that is being asked The type of information that is being gathered, how the study is designed The number of participants. Any ethical considerations that relate to the participants. Scientific inquiries are categorized into two broad categories: qualitative methods and quantitative methods. Qualitative methods employ nonnumeric designs and attempt to study phenomena inductively, as a process, and in the place in which the phenomena occur. Quantitative approaches on the other hand measure phenomena numerically and deduce conclusions from the numeric data. Both approaches are well represented in the study of children. Let us first discuss the qualitative methods in this section. Types of Qualitative Methods The major types of qualitative methods include observation, self-report, and case study. i. Observation There are two ways of carrying out observation. The first involves viewing the subject of interest in a laboratory setting. The benefit of this is that the situation can be controlled by the researcher. The drawbacks of this kind observation are that the setting can be unnatural and the subject is aware that they are being studied and hence can be artificial in their behavior. The second allows researchers to observe participants in real-world settings (naturalistic observation). The strength of this method is that it allows researchers to view behavior as it really happens in a natural setting. In conducting a naturalistic observation, the researcher observes behavior in a natural environment, such as in a home, day-care, or school setting. The drawback is that the researcher cannot control outside variables that might impact behavior. ii. Self-reports Self-reports can also be used to gather information qualitatively. There are two forms of self reports. 1) The first is the interview method, in which the researcher poses questions to participants either in informal or formal settings as he/she records the responses. These may include direct interviews, focus group discussions or even telephone interviews. 2) The second form is the self-report instrument, in which participants respond to a questionnaire or some other type of structured instrument. Both forms have advantages and disadvantages. Advantages The advantages of self-reports include;  Structured instruments provide control over external and extraneous stimuli. This means that the there is less interference of other variables that are not necessary for the research.  Permit comparisons of the responses, and aid in efficient data collection.  Interviews may provide richer information and could tap aspects of the participants that go unmeasured in structured instruments, such as how the participants think and function in the natural setting. Disadvantages  Self reports limit generalization of results. Results of the open interview are difficult touse for comparison purposes among individuals or groups of individuals.  The rich data gained through interviews could come at the cost of standardization, thereby ruling out comparisons across participant responses. iii. Case Study The third qualitative method of research is the clinical method, or case study. The case study allows the researcher to gain detailed information on one individual's development. The rich data provides an extensive picture of the developmental process of an individual. In turn this means that there is only one person in the study and that any conclusions that are drawn cannot be easily generalized to other individuals. Types of Quantitative methods There are three types of commonly used quantitative methods of study:    Correlational Experimental, Quasi-Experimental. To some degree each of these designs allows the researcher to identify relationships between different factors and to then specify the causes of these relationships. Let us discuss each of the three methods singly. i. Correlational design: Correlational design is used to determine whether relationships exist between two or more variables. In most cases the investigator intends to determine whether a change in one variable coincides with a change in a second variable. In a correlation design no variable manipulation occurs. For example, a child's behaviors are measured as they occur naturally and a numerical index reflecting the relationship between the measures' outcomes is then computed. Usually, a correlation coefficient is used to calculate the strength and type (positive or negative) of relationship that exists. Although the correlational design is extremely useful, it cannot be used to determine cause-effect relationships between variables. This is because variables other than the ones under study cannot be controlled, measured, or otherwise considered in this design; such variables could influence the relationship between the variables under study. This kind of control is afforded only in designs in which variables can be manipulated and participants can be randomly assigned to groups. Correlational research methods are common in the study of development partly because ethical concerns in research with human beings. ii. Experimental design: Experimental designs allow cause-effect conclusions unlike correlational designs. This is because variables can be manipulated and participants can be randomly assigned. With respect to manipulation of variables, the researcher must assign independent and dependent variables to the experiment. The independent variables are the ones manipulated by the researcher while the dependent variable represents the responses of the participants. For example, an independent variable might represent the amount of direct reading instruction students receive, and the dependent variable might be reading achievement scores. In essence, the researcher wants the dependent variable to reflect the effect of being treated with the independent variable. Experiment is the most scientific method of research. However, it can be difficult to use if the variables of interest are abstract or internal concepts. Another problem is that some variables of interest cannot be studied through experimentation for ethical reasons. Examples of this would be research on the effects of child abuse on development. One cannot expose children to abuse to find out its effect on the children. iii. Quasi- experimental designs These are not true experiments. Since true experiments may have ethical issues, researchers in child psychology as in other areas in social science carry out quasi-experiments Developmental psychologists are mostly concerned with the changes in children that occur over a period of time e.g. the first five years of life. This fact brings to light another research design choice that must be considered: longitudinal research versus cross-sectional research. Let us now delve into these two research designs. Longitudinal research Longitudinal studies involve studying the same group of participants over a particular time period. In a longitudinal study, a researcher performs repeated observations or testing at specified points during the participants' lives, thus allowing the observation of development. The time span involved may be anywhere from a few months to a lifetime. This design provides the best information about the continuity or discontinuity of behavior over time and allows for the individual tracking of patterns of behavior, as well as trends of development, within a similar group. However, this design has a lot of disadvantages that in most cases override its benefits. Here are some of its disadvantages;    It is expensive to study a large group of individuals over an extensive time span. Keeping up with these individuals can be costly and time consuming. Participants may move away from home and local communities, and therefore drop out of the study.  Sometimes the participants become wise to the testing or observations and practice over repeated measures and contaminate the results.  Cohort effects may also be a factor in the outcomes of longitudinal studies. Cohort effects are common characteristics or trends in development for one cohort or group that may not follow suit for another cohort. To try to alleviate some of these potential problems, researchers often study small groups of individuals; but this may make it difficult to generalize the findings to a larger group. Cross-sectional design Cross-sectional studies involved studying groups of participants in different age groups at the same point in time. This involves studying different groups of children who for instance share the same age but who may come from a different educational or ethnic background; any differences between groups might be attributed to the child's lifestyle rather than age. The three most popular cross sectional designs include; The sequential design: It combines both cross and longitudinal methodologies. Here, a researcher observes members of different birth cohorts at the same time, and then tracks all participants over time, charting changes in the groups. Ethical Issues Involved in Research With Children The ethics of research with children is a balance issue. On the one hand, the focus is on ways of preventing and reducing harms in research and ensuring adequate protection of children and young people. On the other hand, there is concern about the risks and harms of silencing and excluding children from research about their views, experiences and participation. The most common issues that are raised concern data confidentiality, the purpose of the study and of interviews, as well as the use of audio or video recording of the interviews. The principles to be followed include and not limited to the following:      Non-harmful procedures: The investigator should use no research procedure that may bring harm to the child either physically or psychologically. The investigator is also obligated at all times to use the least stressful research procedure whenever possible. Informed consent: Before seeking consent or assent from the child, the investigator should inform the child of all features of the research that may affect his or her willingness to participate and should answer the child's questions in terms appropriate to the child's comprehension. Parental Consent: The informed consent of parents, legal guardians or those who act in loco parentis (e.g., teachers, superintendents of institutions) similarly should be obtained, preferably in writing. Parental consent is required where it is viewed that a child is incapable of understanding the implications of taking part in a study or where the child is regarded as incompetent to consent. Although the child’s assent is advisable, the power to consent, in law, is that of his/her parents or legal guardian. Those acting for a child are only acting legally if participation in the project is of benefit to the child. If it is not, the parent or guardian could be said to be acting illegally. One parent can give consent but it is preferable to have both. Where there is parental disagreement as to whether an ‘incompetent’ child should be volunteered for research, it is possible that one parent could apply to court to block the child’s participation. The Ethics Committee may in such circumstances advice that where there is disagreement, the child should not be included in the research. Confidentiality and anonymity: principle of confidentiality must be explained in a way that children can understand. The extent of the anonymity and any potential areas where the confidentiality of the interview may be broken should be explained to the child at the outset of the interview. For example, the researcher has a duty to take steps to protect the child or other children, if they are considered to be ‘at risk of significant harm’. Incentives: Incentives to participate in a research project must be fair and must not unduly exceed the range of incentives that the child normally experiences. Whatever incentives are used, the investigator should always keep in mind that the greater the possible effects of the investigation on the child, the greater is the obligation to protect the child's welfare and freedom. Theories of Human Development Psychosexual Development In Freudian psychology, psychosexual development is a central element of the psychoanalytic sexual drive theory, that human beings, from birth, possess an instinctual libido (sexual energy) that develops in five stages. Each stage — the oral, the anal, the phallic, the latent, and the genital — is characterized by the erogenous zone that is the source of the libidinal drive. That is because human beings are born "polymorphous", infants can derive sexual pleasure from any part of their bodies, and that socialization directs the instinctual libidinal drives into adult heterosexuality. Sigmund Freud proposed that if the child experienced sexual frustration in relation to any psychosexual developmental stage, s/he would experience anxiety that would persist into adulthood as a neurosis, a functional mental disorder. Oral stage The first stage of psychosexual development is the oral stage, spanning from birth until the age of two years, wherein the infant's mouth is the focus of libidinal gratification derived from the pleasure of feeding at the mother's breast, and from the oral exploration of his or her environment, i.e. the tendency to place objects in the mouth. The id dominates, because neither the ego nor the super ego is yet fully developed, and, since the infant has no personality (identity), every action is based upon the pleasure principle. Nonetheless, the infantile ego is forming during the oral stage; two factors contribute to its formation: (i) in developing a body image, he or she is discrete from the external world, e.g. the child understands pain when it is applied to his or her body, thus identifying the physical boundaries between body and environment; (ii) experiencing delayed gratification leads to understanding that specific behaviors satisfy some needs, e.g. crying gratifies certain needs. Weaning is the key experience in the infant's oral stage of psychosexual development, his or her first feeling of loss consequent to losing the physical intimacy of feeding at mother's breast. Yet, weaning increases the infant's self-awareness that he or she does not control the environment, and thus learns of delayed gratification, which leads to the formation of the capacities for independence (awareness of the limits of the self) and trust (behaviors leading to gratification). Yet, thwarting of the oral-stage — too much or too little gratification of desire — might lead to an oral-stage fixation, characterized by passivity, gullibility, immaturity, unrealistic optimism, which is manifested in a manipulative personality consequent to ego malformation. In the case of too much gratification, the child does not learn that he or she does not control the environment, and that gratification is not always immediate, thereby forming an immature personality. In the case of too little gratification, the infant might become passive upon learning that gratification is not forthcoming, despite having produced the gratifying behavior. Anal stage The second stage of psychosexual development is the anal stage, spanning from the age of eighteen months to three years, wherein the infant's erogenous zone changes from the mouth (the upper digestive tract) to the anus (the lower digestive tract), while the ego formation continues. Toilet training is the child's key anal-stage experience, occurring at about the age of two years, and results in conflict between the Id (demanding immediate gratification) and the Ego (demanding delayed gratification) in eliminating bodily wastes, and handling related activities (e.g. manipulating excrement, coping with parental demands). The style of parenting influences the resolution of the Id–Ego conflict, which can be both gradual and psychologically uneventful, or which can be sudden and psychologically traumatic. The ideal resolution of the Id–Ego conflict is in the child's adjusting to moderate parental demands that teach the value and importance of physical cleanliness and environmental order, thus producing a self-controlled adult. Yet, if the parents make immoderate demands of the child, by over-emphasizing toilet training, it might lead to the development of a compulsive personality, a person too concerned with neatness and order. If the child obeys the Id, and the parents yield, he or she might develop a self-indulgent personality characterized by personal slovenliness and environmental disorder. If the parents respond to that, the child must comply, but might develop a weak sense of Self, because it was the parents' will, and not the child's ego, who controlled the toilet training. Phallic stage The third stage of psychosexual development is the phallic stage, spanning the ages of three to six years, wherein the child's genitalia are his or her primary erogenous zone. It is in this third infantile development stage that children become aware of their bodies, the bodies of other children, and the bodies of their parents; they gratify physical curiosity by undressing and exploring each other and their genitals, and so learn the physical (sexual) differences between "male" and "female" and the gender differences between "boy" and "girl". In the phallic stage, a boy's decisive psychosexual experience is the Oedipus complex, his son–father competition for possession of mother. This psychological complex derives from the 5th-century BC Greek mythologic character Oedipus, who unwittingly killed his father, Laius, and sexually possessed his mother, Jocasta. Analogously, in the phallic stage, a girl's decisive psychosexual experience is the Electra complex, her daughter–mother competition for psychosexual possession of father. This psychological complex derives from the 5th-century BC Greek mythologic Electra, who plotted matricidal revenge with Orestes, her brother, against Clytemnestra, their mother, and Aegisthus, their stepfather, for their murder of Agamemnon, their father. Initially, Freud equally applied the Oedipus complex to the psychosexual development of boys and girls, but later developed the female aspects of the theory as the feminine Oedipus attitude and the negative Oedipus complex; yet, it was his student–collaborator, Carl Jung, who coined the term Electra complex in 1913 Nonetheless, Freud rejected Jung's term as psychoanalytically inaccurate: "that what we have said about the Oedipus complex applies with complete strictness to the male child only, and that we are right in rejecting the term 'Electra complex', which seeks to emphasize the analogy between the attitude of the two sexes". Oedipus — Despite mother being the parent who primarily gratifies the child's desires, the child begins forming a discrete sexual identity — "boy", "girl" — that alters the dynamics of the parent and child relationship; the parents become the focus of infantile libidinal energy. The boy focuses his libido (sexual desire) upon his mother, and focuses jealousy and emotional rivalry against his father — because it is he who sleeps with mother. To facilitate uniting him with his mother, the boy's id wants to kill father (as did Oedipus), but the ego, pragmatically based upon the reality principle, knows that the father is the stronger of the two males competing to possess the one female. Nevertheless, the boy remains ambivalent about his father's place in the family, which is manifested as fear of castration by the physically greater father; the fear is an irrational, subconscious manifestation of the infantile Id. Electra — Whereas boys develop castration anxiety, girls develop penis envy that is rooted in anatomic fact: without a penis, she cannot sexually possess mother, as the infantile id demands. Resultantly, the girl redirects her desire for sexual union upon father; thus, she progresses towards heterosexual femininity that culminates in bearing a child who replaces the absent penis. Moreover, after the phallic stage, the girl's psychosexual development includes transferring her primary erogenous zone from the infantile clitoris to the adult vagina. Freud thus considered a girl's Oedipal conflict to be more emotionally intense than that of a boy, resulting, potentially, in a submissive woman of insecure personality. Psychological defense — In both sexes, defense mechanisms provide transitory resolutions of the conflict between the drives of the Id and the drives of the Ego. The first defense mechanism is repression, the blocking of memories, emotional impulses, and ideas from the conscious mind; yet it does not resolve the Id–Ego conflict. The second defense mechanism is Identification, by which the child incorporates, to his or her ego, the personality characteristics of the same-sex parent; in so adapting, the boy diminishes his castration anxiety, because his likeness to father protects him from father's wrath as a rival for mother; by so adapting, the girl facilitates identifying with mother, who understands that, in being females, neither of them possesses a penis, and thus they are not antagonists. Fixations — Unresolved psychosexual competition for the opposite-sex parent might produce a phallic-stage fixation leading a girl to become a woman who continually strives to dominate men (viz. penis envy), either as an unusually seductive woman (high self-esteem) or as an unusually submissive woman (low self-esteem). In a boy, a phallic-stage fixation might lead him to become an aggressive, over-ambitious, vain man. Therefore, the satisfactory parental handling and resolution of the Oedipus complex and of the Electra complex are most important in developing the infantile super-ego, because, by identifying with a parent, the child internalizes morality, thereby, choosing to comply with societal rules, rather than having to reflexively comply in fear of punishment. It may result to narcissistic personality leading to homosexuality and low capacity for intimate sexual relationships. Latency stage The fourth stage of psychosexual development is the latency stage that spans from the age of six years until puberty, wherein the child consolidates the character habits he or she developed in the three, earlier stages of psychological and sexual development. Whether or not the child has successfully resolved the Oedipal conflict, the instinctual drives of the id are inaccessible to the Ego, because his or her defense mechanisms repressed them during the phallic stage. Hence, because said drives are latent (hidden) and gratification is delayed — unlike during the preceding oral, anal, and phallic stages — the child must derive the pleasure of gratification from secondary process-thinking that directs the libidinal drives towards external activities, such as schooling, friendships, hobbies, etc. Any neuroses established during the fourth, latent stage, of psychosexual development might derive from the inadequate resolution either of the Oedipus conflict or of the Ego's failure to direct his or her energies towards socially acceptable activities. Genital stage The fifth stage of psychosexual development is the genital stage that spans puberty and adult life, and thus occupies most of the life of a man and of a woman; its purpose is the psychological detachment and independence from the parents. The genital stage affords the person the ability to confront and resolve his or her remaining psychosexual childhood conflicts. As in the phallic stage, the genital stage is centered upon the genitalia, but the sexuality is consensual and adult, rather than solitary and infantile. The psychological difference between the phallic and genital stages is that the ego is established in the latter; the person's concern shifts from primary-drive gratification (instinct) to applying secondary process-thinking to gratify desire symbolically and intellectually by means of friendships, a love relationship, family and adult responsibilities. Erikson's Psychosocial Crisis Stages Erikson used particular words to represent each psychosocial crisis. As ever, single words can be misleading and rarely convey much meaning. Here is more explanation of what lies behind these terms. Erikson reinforced these crisis explanations with a perspective called 'psychosocial modalities', which in the earlier stages reflect Freudian theory, and which are paraphrased below. They are not crucial to the model, but they do provide a useful additional viewpoint. 1. Trust v Mistrust ('To get' 'To give in return') The infant will develop a healthy balance between trust and mistrust if fed and cared for and not over-indulged or over-protected. Abuse or neglect or cruelty will destroy trust and foster mistrust. Mistrust increases a person's resistance to risk-exposure and exploration. "Once bitten twice shy" is an apt analogy. On the other hand, if the infant is insulated from all and any feelings of surprise and normality, or unfailingly indulged, this will create a false sense of trust amounting to sensory distortion, in other words a failure to appreciate reality. Infants who grow up to trust are more able to hope and have faith that 'things will generally be okay'. This crisis stage incorporates Freud's psychosexual Oral stage, in which the infant's crucial relationships and experiences are defined by oral matters, notably feeding and relationship with mum. Erikson later shortened 'Basic Trust v Basic Mistrust' to simply Trust v Mistrust, especially in tables and headings. 2. Autonomy v Shame & Doubt ('To hold on' 'To let go') Autonomy means self-reliance. This is independence of thought, and a basic confidence to think and act for oneself. Shame and Doubt mean what they say, and obviously inhibit self-expression and developing one's own ideas, opinions and sense of self. Toilet and potty training is a significant part of this crisis, as in Freud's psychosexual Anal stage, where parental reactions, encouragement and patience play an important role in shaping the young child's experience and successful progression through this period. The significance of parental reaction is not limited to bottoms and pooh - it concerns all aspects of toddler exploration and discovery while small children struggle to find their feet - almost literally - as little people in their own right. The 'terrible twos' and 'toddler tantrums' are a couple of obvious analogies which represent these internal struggles and parental battles. The parental balancing act is a challenging one, especially since parents themselves are having to deal with their own particular psychosocial crisis, and of course deal with the influence of their own emotional triggers which were conditioned when they themselves passed through earlier formative crisis stages. What are the odds that whenever a parent berates a child, "That's dirty.." it will be an echo from their own past experience at this very stage? 3. Initiative v Guilt ('To make (= going after)''To "make like" (= playing)') Initiative is the capability to devise actions or projects, and a confidence and belief that it is okay to do so, even with a risk of failure or making mistakes. Guilt means what it says, and in this context is the feeling that it is wrong or inappropriate to instigate something of one's own design. Guilt results from being admonished or believing that something is wrong or likely to attract disapproval. Initiative flourishes when adventure and game-playing is encouraged, irrespective of how daft and silly it seems to the grown-up in charge. Suppressing adventure and experimentation, or preventing young children doing things for themselves because of time, mess or a bit of risk will inhibit the development of confidence to initiate, replacing it instead with an unhelpful fear of being wrong or unapproved. The fear of being admonished or accused of being stupid becomes a part of the personality. "If I don't initiate or stick my neck out I'll be safe." (from feeling guilty and bad). Parents, carers and older siblings have a challenge to get the balance right between giving young children enough space and encouragement so as to foster a sense of purpose and confidence, but to protect against danger, and also to enable a sensible exposure to trail and error, and to the consequences of mistakes, without which an irresponsible or reckless tendency can develop.This crisis stage correlates with Freud's psychosexual Phallic stage, characterised by a perfectly natural interest in genitals, where babies come from, and as Freud asserted, an attachment to the opposite sex parent, and the murky mysteries of the Oedipus Complex, Penis Envy and Castration Anxiety, about which further explanation and understanding is not critical to appreciating Erikson's theory. What's more essential is to recognise that children of this age are not wicked or bad or naughty, they are exploring and 4. Industry v Inferiority ('To make (= going after' 'To "make like" and complete things, and to make things together') Industry here refers to purposeful or meaningful activity. It's the development of competence and skills, and a confidence to use a 'method'. It is a crucial aspect of school years’ experience. Erikson described this stage as a sort of 'entrance to life'. This correlates with Freud's psychosexual Latency stage, when sexual motives and concerns are largely repressed while the young person concentrates on work and skills development. A child who experiences the satisfaction of achievement - of anything positive - will move towards successful negotiation of this crisis stage. A child who experiences failure at school tasks and work, or worse still who is denied the opportunity to discover and develop their own capabilities and strengths and unique potential, quite naturally is prone to feeling inferior and useless. Engaging with others and using tools or technology are also important aspects of this stage. It is like a rehearsal for being productive and being valued at work in later life. Inferiority is feeling useless; unable to contribute, unable to cooperate or work in a team to create something, with the low self-esteem that accompanies such feelings. Erikson knew this over fifty years ago. How is it that the people in charge of children's education still fail to realise this? Develop the child from within. Help them to find and excel at what they are naturally good at, and then they will achieve the sense of purpose and industry on which everything else can then be built. 5. Identity v Role Confusion ('To be oneself (or not to be)' 'To share being oneself') Identity means essentially how a person sees themselves in relation to their world. It's a sense of self or individuality in the context of life and what lies ahead. Role Confusion is the negative perspective - an absence of identity - meaning that the person cannot see clearly or at all who they are and how they can relate positively with their environment. This stage coincides with puberty or adolescence, and the reawakening of the sexual urge whose dormancy typically characterises the previous stage. Young people struggle to belong and to be accepted and affirmed, and yet also to become individuals. In itself this is a big dilemma, aside from all the other distractions and confusions experienced at this life stage. Erikson later replaced the term 'Role Confusion' with 'Identity Diffusion'. In essence they mean the same. 6. Intimacy v Isolation ('To lose and find oneself in another') Intimacy means the process of achieving relationships with family and marital or mating partner(s). Erikson explained this stage also in terms of sexual mutuality - the giving and receiving of physical and emotional connection, support, love, comfort, trust, and all the other elements that we would typically associate with healthy adult relationships conducive to mating and child-rearing. There is a strong reciprocal feature in the intimacy experienced during this stage - giving and receiving - especially between sexual or marital partners. Isolation conversely means being and feeling excluded from the usual life experiences of dating and mating and mutually loving relationships. This logically is characterized by feelings of loneliness, alienation, social withdrawal or non-participation. Erikson also later correlated this stage with the Freudian Genitality sexual stage, which illustrates the difficulty in equating Freudian psychosexual theory precisely to Erikson's model. There is a correlation but it is not an exact fit. 7. Generativity v Stagnation ('To make be' 'To take care of') Generativity derives from the word generation, as in parents and children, and specifically the unconditional giving that characterises positive parental love and care for their offspring. Erikson acknowledged that this stage also extends to other productive activities - work and creativity for example - but given his focus on childhood development, and probably the influence of Freudian theory, Erikson's analysis of this stage was strongly oriented towards parenting. Generativity potentially extends beyond one's own children, and also to all future generations, which gives the model ultimately a very modern globally responsible perspective. Positive outcomes from this crisis stage depend on contributing positively and unconditionally. We might also see this as an end of self-interest. Having children is not a prerequisite for Generativity, just as being a parent is no guarantee that Generativity will be achieved. Caring for children is the common Generativity scenario, but success at this stage actually depends on giving and caring - putting something back into life, to the best of one's capabilities. Stagnation is an extension of intimacy which turns inward in the form of self-interest and self-absorption. It's the disposition that represents feelings of selfishness, self-indulgence, greed, lack of interest in young people and future generations, and the wider world. Erikson later used the term 'Self-Absorption' instead of 'Stagnation' and then seems to have settled in later work with the original 'Stagnation'. Stagnation and/or Self-Absorption result from not having an outlet or opportunity for contributing to the good or growth of children and others, and potentially to the wider world. 8. Integrity v Despair ('To be, through having been To face not being') This is a review and closing stage. The previous stage is actually a culmination of one's achievement and contribution to descendents, and potentially future generations everywhere. Integrity means feeling at peace with oneself and the world. No regrets or recriminations. The linking between the stages is perhaps clearer here than anywhere: people are more likely to look back on their lives positively and happily if they have left the world a better place than they found it - in whatever way, to whatever extent. There lies Integrity and acceptance. Despair represent the opposite disposition: feelings of wasted opportunities, regrets, wishing to be able to turn back the clock and have a second chance. This stage is a powerful lens through which to view one's life - even before old age is reached. Erikson had a profound interest in humanity and society's well-being in general. This crisis stage highlights the issue very meaningfully. Happily these days for many people it's often possible to put something back, even in the depths of despair. When this happens people are effectively rebuilding wreckage from the previous stage, which is fine. Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development Piaget's theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence first developed by Jean Piaget. It is primarily known as a developmental stage theory, but in fact, it deals with the nature of knowledge itself and how humans come gradually to acquire, construct, and use it. To Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes as a result of biological maturation and environmental experience. Children construct an understanding of the world around them, then experience discrepancies between what they already know and what they discover in their environment. Moreover, Piaget claims the idea that cognitive development is at the center of human organism and language is contingent on cognitive development. Nature of intelligence: operative and figurative intelligence Piaget proposed that operative intelligence is responsible for the representation and manipulation of the dynamic or transformational aspects of reality and that figurative intelligence is responsible for the representation of the static aspects of reality. Operative intelligence is the active aspect of intelligence. It involves all actions, overt or covert, undertaken in order to follow, recover, or anticipate the transformations of the objects or persons of interest. Figurative intelligence is the more or less static aspect of intelligence, involving all means of representation used to retain in mind the states (i.e., successive forms, shapes, or locations) that intervene between transformations. That is, it involves perception, imitation, mental imagery, drawing, and language. Therefore, the figurative aspects of intelligence derive their meaning from the operative aspects of intelligence, because states cannot exist independently of the transformations that interconnect them. Piaget believed that the figurative or the representational aspects of intelligence are subservient to its operative and dynamic aspects, and therefore, that understanding essentially derives from the operative aspect of intelligence. At any time, operative intelligence frames how the world is understood and it changes if understanding is not successful. Piaget believed that this process of understanding and change involves two basic functions: Assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation, one of two processes coined by Jean Piaget, describes how humans perceive and adapt to new information. It is the process of taking one’s environment and new information and fitting it into pre-existing cognitive schemas. Accommodation, unlike assimilation is the process of taking one's environment and new information, and altering one's pre-existing schemas in order to fit in the new information. The equilibrium is what Piaget believes ultimately influences structures because of the internal and external processes through assimilation and accommodation. Sensorimotor stage (birth to about age 2) In this stage knowledge of the world is limited (but developing) because it’s based on physical interactions/experiences. The child learns that he is separate from his environment and that aspects of his environment continue to exist even though they may be outside the reach of his senses. Behaviors are limited to simple motor responses caused by sensory stimuli. In this stage according to Piaget, the development of object permanence is one of the most important accomplishments at the sensorimotor stage. Object permanence is child’s understanding that objects continue to exist even though they cannot be seen or heard. Piaget divided the sensorimotor stage into six sub-stages" from birth until the age of two, infants have only senses: vision, hearing, and motor skills, such as grasping, sucking, and stepping. By the end of the sensorimotor period, objects are both separate from the self and permanent. Object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched. Acquiring the sense of object permanence is one of the infant's most important accomplishments, according to Piaget. Preoperational stage (2-7 years) During the Pre-operational Stage of cognitive development children improve on symbolic representation. They are able to form stable concepts as well as magical beliefs. Piaget noted that children do not yet understand concrete logic and cannot mentally manipulate information. Children’s increase in playing and pretending takes place in this stage. However the child still has trouble seeing things from different points of view. The children's play is mainly categorized by symbolic play and manipulating symbols. Such play is demonstrated by the idea of checkers being snacks, pieces of paper being plates, and a box being a table. Their observations of symbols exemplify the idea of play with the absence of the actual objects involved. Later in the stage children tend to become very curious and ask many questions; begin the use of primitive reasoning. Concrete operational stage (7-11 years) The concrete operational stage is the third of four stages from Piaget's theory of cognitive development. This stage is characterized by the appropriate use of logic. During this stage, a child's thought processes become more mature and "adult like." They start solving problems in a more logical fashion. Abstract, hypothetical thinking has not yet developed, and children can only solve problems that apply to concrete events or objects. Piaget determined that children are able to incorporate inductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning involves drawing inferences from observations in order to make a generalization. In contrast, children struggle with deductive reasoning, which involves using a generalized principle in order to try to predict the outcome of an event. Children in this stage commonly experience difficulties with figuring out logic in their heads. For example, a child will understand A>B and B>C, however when asked is A>C, said child might not be able to logically figure the question out in their heads. Milestones of the concrete operational stage • Ability to distinguish between their own thoughts and the thoughts of others. Children recognize that their thoughts and perceptions may be different from those around them. • Increased classification skills: Children are able to classify objects by their number, mass, and weight. • Ability to think logically about objects and events Important abilities Conservation The understanding that although an object’s appearance changes, it still stays the same in quantity. Redistributing an object does not affect it’s mass, number, or volume. For example, a child understands that when you pour a liquid into a different shaped glass, the amount of liquid stays the same. Decentering The child now takes into account multiple aspects of a problem to solve it. For example, the child will no longer perceive an exceptionally wide but short cup to contain less than a normally wide, taller cup. Reversibility The child now understands that numbers or objects can be changed and then returned to their original state. For example, during this stage, a child understands that his or her favorite ball that deflates is not gone and can be filled with air and put back into play again. Another example would be that the child realizes that a ball of clay, once flattened, can be made into a ball of clay again. Seriation The ability to sort objects in an order according to size, shape, or any other characteristic. For example, if given different-shaded objects they may make a color gradient. Classification The ability to name and identify sets of objects according to appearance, size or other characteristic, including the idea that one set of objects can include another. Elimination of Egocentrism The ability to view things from another's perspective (even if they think incorrectly). For instance, show a child a comic in which Jane puts a doll under a box, leaves the room, and then Melissa moves the doll to a drawer, and Jane comes back. A child in the concrete operations stage will say that Jane will still think it's under the box even though the child knows it is in the drawer. Children in this stage can, however, only solve problems that apply to actual (concrete) objects or events, and not abstract concepts or hypothetical tasks. Understanding and knowing how to use full common sense has not been completely adapted yet. Formal operational stage (12 plus) The final stage is known as Formal operational stage (adolescence and into adulthood): Intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts. At this point, the person is capable of hypothetical and deductive reasoning. During this time, people develop the ability to think about abstract concepts. Piaget believed that deductive logic becomes important during the formal operational stage. This type of thinking involves hypothetical situations and is often required in science and mathematics. Abstract thought emerges during the formal operational stage. Children tend to think very concretely and specifically in earlier stages. Children begin to consider possible outcomes and consequences of actions. Problem-solving is demonstrated when children use trial-and-error to solve problems. The ability to systematically solve a problem in a logical and methodical way emerges. LAWRENCE KOHLBERG'S STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development constitute an adaptation of a psychological theory originally conceived by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. Kohlberg began work on this topic while a psychology postgraduate student at the University of Chicago in 1958, and expanded and developed this theory throughout his life. The theory holds that moral reasoning, the basis for ethical behavior, has six identifiable developmental stages, each more adequate at responding to moral dilemmas than its predecessor. Kohlberg followed the development of moral judgment far beyond the ages studied earlier by Piaget, who also claimed that logic and morality develop through constructive stages. Expanding on Piaget's work, Kohlberg determined that the process of moral development was principally concerned with justice, and that it continued throughout the individual's lifetime, a notion that spawned dialogue on the philosophical implications of such research. Stages Kohlberg's six stages can be more generally grouped into three levels of two stages each: preconventional, conventional and post-conventional. Following Piaget's constructivist requirements for a stage model, as described in his theory of cognitive development, it is extremely rare to regress in stages—to lose the use of higher stage abilities. Stages cannot be skipped; each provides a new and necessary perspective, more comprehensive and differentiated than its predecessors but integrated with them. The understanding gained in each stage is retained in later stages, but may be regarded by those in later stages as simplistic, lacking in sufficient attention to detail. Pre-conventional The pre-conventional level of moral reasoning is especially common in children, although adults can also exhibit this level of reasoning. Reasoners at this level judge the morality of an action by its direct consequences. The pre-conventional level consists of the first and second stages of moral development, and is solely concerned with the self in an egocentric manner. A child with pre-conventional morality has not yet adopted or internalized society's conventions regarding what is right or wrong, but instead focuses largely on external consequences that certain actions may bring. In Stage one (obedience and punishment driven), individuals focus on the direct consequences of their actions on themselves. For example, an action is perceived as morally wrong because the perpetrator is punished. "The last time I did that I got spanked so I will not do it again." The worse the punishment for the act is, the more "bad" the act is perceived to be. This can give rise to an inference that even innocent victims are guilty in proportion to their suffering. It is "egocentric", lacking recognition that others' points of view are different from one's own. There is "deference to superior power or prestige". Stage two (self-interest driven) espouses the "what's in it for me" position, in which right behavior is defined by whatever the individual believes to be in their best interest but understood in a narrow way which does not consider one's reputation or relationships to groups of people. Stage two reasoning shows a limited interest in the needs of others, but only to a point where it might further the individual's own interests. As a result, concern for others is not based on loyalty or intrinsic respect, but rather a "You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours." mentality. The lack of a societal perspective in the pre-conventional level is quite different from the social contract (stage five), as all actions have the purpose of serving the individual's own needs or interests. For the stage two theorist, the world's perspective is often seen as morally relative. Conventional The conventional level of moral reasoning is typical of adolescents and adults. Those who reason in a conventional way judge the morality of actions by comparing them to society's views and expectations. The conventional level consists of the third and fourth stages of moral development. Conventional morality is characterized by an acceptance of society's conventions concerning right and wrong. At this level an individual obeys rules and follows society's norms even when there are no consequences for obedience or disobedience. Adherence to rules and conventions is somewhat rigid, however, and a rule's appropriateness or fairness is seldom questioned. In Stage three (interpersonal accord and conformity driven), the self enters society by filling social roles. Individuals are receptive to approval or disapproval from others as it reflects society's accordance with the perceived role. They try to be a "good boy" or "good girl" to live up to these expectations, having learned that there is inherent value in doing so. Stage three reasoning may judge the morality of an action by evaluating its consequences in terms of a person's relationships, which now begin to include things like respect, gratitude and the "golden rule". "I want to be liked and thought well of; apparently, not being naughty makes people like me." Desire to maintain rules and authority exists only to further support these social roles. The intentions of actors play a more significant role in reasoning at this stage; "they mean well ...". In Stage four (authority and social order obedience driven), it is important to obey laws, dictums and social conventions because of their importance in maintaining a functioning society. Moral reasoning in stage four is thus beyond the need for individual approval exhibited in stage three. A central ideal or ideals often prescribe what is right and wrong, such as in the case of fundamentalism. If one person violates a law, perhaps everyone would—thus there is an obligation and a duty to uphold laws and rules. When someone does violate a law, it is morally wrong; culpability is thus a significant factor in this stage as it separates the bad domains from the good ones. Most active members of society remain at stage four, where morality is still predominantly dictated by an outside force. Post-Conventional The post-conventional level, also known as the principled level, is marked by a growing realization that individuals are separate entities from society, and that the individual’s own perspective may take precedence over society’s view; individuals may disobey rules inconsistent with their own principles. Post-conventional moralists live by their own ethical principles— principles that typically include such basic human rights as life, liberty, and justice. People who exhibit post-conventional morality view rules as useful but changeable mechanisms—ideally rules can maintain the general social order and protect human rights. Rules are not absolute dictates that must be obeyed without question. Because post-conventional individuals elevate their own moral evaluation of a situation over social conventions, their behavior, especially at stage six, can be confused with that of those at the pre-conventional level. Some theorists have speculated that many people may never reach this level of abstract moral reasoning. In Stage five (social contract driven), the world is viewed as holding different opinions, rights and values. Such perspectives should be mutually respected as unique to each person or community. Laws are regarded as social contracts rather than rigid edicts. Those that do not promote the general welfare should be changed when necessary to meet “the greatest good for the greatest number of people”. This is achieved through majority decision, and inevitable compromise. Democratic government is ostensibly based on stage five reasoning. In Stage six (universal ethical principles driven), moral reasoning is based on abstract reasoning using universal ethical principles. Laws are valid only insofar as they are grounded in justice, and a commitment to justice carries with it an obligation to disobey unjust laws. Legal rights are unnecessary, as social contracts are not essential for deontic moral action. Decisions are not reached hypothetically in a conditional way but rather categorically in an absolute way, as in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. This involves an individual imagining what they would do in another’s shoes, if they believed what that other person imagines to be true. The resulting consensus is the action taken. In this way action is never a means but always an end in itself; the individual acts because it is right, and not because it is instrumental, expected, legal, or previously agreed upon. Although Kohlberg insisted that stage six exists, he found it difficult to identify individuals who consistently operated at that level. HUMANISTIC THEORIES Humanistic theories fail to give chronological stages in personality development. They believe human beings are striving for self-determination and self-realization in the process of development. In the 1950s, some of these psychologists began a school of psychology called humanism. Humanistic psychologists try to see people’s lives as those people would see them. They tend to have an optimistic perspective on human nature. They focus on the ability of human beings to think consciously and rationally, to control their biological urges, and to achieve their full potential. In the humanistic view, people are responsible for their lives and actions and have the freedom and will to change their attitudes and behavior. Human development is seen as a lifelong process Two psychologists, Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, became well known for their humanistic theories. Carl Rongers View Of Personality Carl Rogers developed person centred therapy. It is based on the fundamental belief that human beings are essentially trustworthy social and creative. At the core of Rogers’ personality theory is self concept and the organismic self. The two work together to determine how an individual behaves. The organismic self is inner prompts that communicate our needs. It represents the real self. We are born with it. The self concept is a product of socialization. In Rogers’s view, the self-concept as a component of personality includes all the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs people have about themselves. Rogers believed that people are aware of their selfconcepts. The self concept develops as a person socializes with the world. It is a reflection of what others perceive us to be internalized to be part of self. At times the organismic self is overcome by the self concept making us unaware of our needs hence becoming psychologically unhealthy. The personality is shaped by the behaviors of the significant others whether they give the core conditions or conditions of worth. Rogers developed a passionate belief in the potential of all individuals to flourish in conditions that are both supportive and respectful. Rogers thought that each person is a unified whole or an organism with a single basic motivational tendency to actualise; as Rogers put this: ' this is the inherent tendency of the organism to develop all its capacities in ways which serve to maintain or enhance the organism '. Rogers sees people as basically good or healthy; Mental health is the normal progression of life. There areTwo Basic Assumptions of person-centred therapy :  Formative Tendency : the basic tendency for all organic matter to evolve into more complex forms. (The universe is constantly expanding!)  Actualizing Tendency : the tendency within all living beings to move toward completion or fulfillment of their potential. The source of psychological growth and maturity lies within each of us. Society and culture are seen as natural by products of this actualizing tendency. Rogers identified the following factors as determining the personality development a. The core conditions Rogers felt that for a person to self-actualize he/she must experience three “necessary and sufficient” qualities that create a conducive environment for growth to maturity:    Congruence - genuineness, honesty. Empathy - the ability to feel what he/she feels. Respect - acceptance, unconditional positive regard towards the person. b. Organismic Valuing: Placing value on things which assist the actualizing tendency. When we hunger, we find food - not just any food, but food that tastes good. Food that tastes bad is likely to be spoiled, rotten and unhealthy. It involves:   Positive Regard: love, affection, attention, and nurturing. Positive Self-Regard: self-esteem, self-worth, positive self-image.  Unconditional Positive Regard – This is acceptance of the person without any conditions. It is sometimes shown by parents toward their children. c. Real Self : The you which is founded in the actualizing tendency, follows organismic valuing, and needs and receives positive regard and self-regard. d. Ideal self : Rogers is suggesting something that is always out of our reach, the standard we can’t meet. Personally I’m not convinced that this it is a useful concept as it suggests that we are in some way incomplete and can never achieve oneness or wholeness. The Ideal Self develops due to:  conditions of worth: As we grow up, our parents, teachers, peers, the media, and others, only give us what we need when we show we are "worthy," rather than just because we need it.  conditional positive regard: Because of societies expectations and rules, people may behave in ways which do little to encourage positive self-regard. A good little boy or girl may not be a psychologically healthy boy or girl!  conditional positive self-regard : We begin to like ourselves only if we meet up with the standards others have applied to us, rather than if we are truly actualizing our potentials. e. Congruence and Incongruence Rogers said that people’s self concept often do not exactly match organismic self and ideal self and real self. For example, a person may consider himself to be very honest but often lies to his boss about why he is late to work. Rogers used the term incongruence to refer to the discrepancy between the ideal self and reality and self concept and organismic self. Congruence, on the other hand, is a fairly accurate match between the self-concept and organismic self and ideal self and reality. According to Rogers, parents promote incongruence if they give their children conditional love. If a parent accepts a child only when the child behaves a particular way, the child is likely to block out experiences that are considered unacceptable. On the other hand, if the parent shows unconditional love, the child can develop congruence. Adults whose parents provided conditional love would continue in adulthood to distort their experiences in order to feel accepted. Rogers thought that people experience anxiety when their self-concepts are threatened. To protect themselves from anxiety, people distort their experiences so that they can hold on to their self-concept. People who have a high degree of incongruence are likely to feel very anxious because reality continually threatens their self-concepts. Example: Erin believes she is a very generous person, although she is often stingy with her money and usually leaves small tips or no tips at restaurants. When a dining companion comments on her tipping behavior, she insists that the tips she leaves are proportional to the service she gets. By attributing her tipping behavior to bad service, she can avoid anxiety and maintain her self-concept of being generous. Evaluation Criticism For Rogers, "self-actualization" is a natural process, yet it requires the nurturance of a caregiver. This is a contradiction in Rogers' theory, which may or may not be obvious. If "self-actualization" is merely a natural process, then why must it depend on a caregiver for it to occur? In defence of Rogers, this paradox at least shows that, despite his individualistic bias, he understood deep down that people need people, that we are radically dependent on others for our existence, and that so-called "individuation-separation" involves a more differentiated and mature relationship with others rather than a lack of interdependence with others. In any case, Rogers felt that "unconditional positive regard" is necessary for "self-actualization." That is, human growth requires the experience of being valued for oneself regardless of the degree to which specific behaviours are approved or disapproved. On the other hand, self-actualization is thwarted by "conditional positive regard" -- when acceptance is dependent on the positive or negative evaluation of a person's actions. "Conditional positive regard," Rogers felt, leads to "conditions of worth," which, in turn, can lead to alienation from true feelings and, thus, to anxiety and threat, which blocks self-actualization. Maslow’s View of Personality Development The highest rung on Abraham Maslow’s ladder of human motives is the need for selfactualization. Maslow said that human beings strive for self-actualization, or realization of their full potential, once they have satisfied their more basic needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory is described as follows: Maslow also provided his own account of the healthy human personality. Maslow described several characteristics that self-actualizing people share:       Awareness and acceptance of themselves Openness and spontaneity The ability to enjoy work and see work as a mission to fulfill The ability to develop close friendships without being overly dependent on other people A good sense of humor The tendency to have peak experiences that are spiritually or emotionally satisfying Criticisms of Humanistic Theories Humanistic theories have had a significant influence on psychology as well as pop culture. Many psychologists now accept the idea that when it comes to personality, people’s subjective experiences have more weight than objective reality. Humanistic psychologists’ focus on healthy people, rather than troubled people, has also been a particularly useful contribution. However, critics of humanistic theories maintain several arguments:  Humanistic theories are too naïvely optimistic and fail to provide insight into the evil side of human nature.  Humanistic theories, like psychodynamic theories, cannot be easily tested.  Many concepts in humanistic psychology, like that of the self-actualized person, are vague and subjective. Some critics argue that this concept may reflect Maslow’s own values and ideals.  Humanistic psychology is biased toward individualistic values. BEHAVIORAL PERSONALITY THEORIES The behavior approaches are a collection of many separate theories of personality. They can be categorized into three main categories: classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social learning theories. Classical behaviorism was mechanistic in philosophical assumptions, explaining human behavior as a product of the environment. With further development they have recognized the impact of the human beings in determining how they live. They see human beings as a product and a producer of their environment as the role of cognition in determining behavior got recognized. The process of development involves learning, unlearning maladaptive behaviours and learning new adaptive behaviours. They failed to give chronological stages in development. This indicates that we are constantly adjusting to fit in our environment and or we are busy changing our environment to suite our needs. Although behavioral personality theory involves the study of personality through behaviorism (which emphasizes overt, objective behavior), theorists in this area also consider cognitive processes and study particular ways of learning, such as by observing others in a social context. Traditional learning procedures—classical conditioning, operant conditioning (instrumental learning), and observational learning—are used to demonstrate how people learn many emotional responses. The school of behaviorism emerged in the 1910s, led by John B. Watson. Unlike psychodynamic theorists, behaviorists study only observable behavior. Their explanations of personality focus on learning. Skinner, Bandura, and Walter Mischel all proposed important behaviorist theories. Learning Theories Classical conditioning Classical conditioning (also Pavlovian conditioning or respondent conditioning) is a kind of learning that occurs when a conditioned stimulus (CS) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US). Usually, the CS is a neutral stimulus (e.g., the sound of a tuning fork), the US is biologically potent (e.g., the taste of food) and the unconditioned response (UR) to the US is an unlearned reflex response (e.g., salivation). After pairing is repeated (some learning may occur already after only one pairing), the organism exhibits a conditioned response (CR) to the CS when the CS is presented alone. The CR is usually similar to the UR (see below), but unlike the UR, it must be acquired through experience and is relatively impermanent Operant conditioning B. F. Skinner is well known for describing the principles of operant conditioning. Skinner believed that the environment determines behavior. According to his view, people have consistent behavior patterns because they have particular kinds of response tendencies. This means that over time, people learn to behave in particular ways as they adjust to the environment. Behaviors that have positive consequences tend to increase, while behaviors that have negative consequences tend to decrease. Skinner didn’t think that childhood played an especially important role in shaping personality. Instead, he thought that personality develops over the whole life span. People’s responses change as they encounter new situations. Example: a person whose parents were hostile to each other learns to be defensive and expects the spouse to behave the same once married. If he/she marry a caring person at first it will be difficult but with time he/she might adjust to fit the new environment to become honest and caring. Married people do not do 100% as their parents did. Social learning theories Albert Bandura Albert Bandura pointed out that people learn to respond in particular ways by watching other people, who are called models. Although Bandura agrees that personality arises through learning, he believes that conditioning is not an automatic, mechanical process. He and other theorists believe that cognitive processes like thinking and reasoning are important in learning. The kind of behaviorism they advocate is called social-cognitive learning. Whom Do We Imitate? Research has shown that people are more likely to imitate some models than others. People tend to imitate models they like or admire and models they consider attractive and powerful. People are also more likely to imitate models that seem similar to themselves. Furthermore, if people see models being rewarded for their behavior, they will be more likely to imitate those models. Advertisers often use these research results when they design advertisements. For example, advertisements those try to persuade young adults to purchase a certain brand of soft drink often show young, attractive models who are being rewarded with good times for their soda-drinking behavior. Walter Mischel’s Ideas Walter Mischel, like Bandura, is a social-cognitive theorist. Mischel’s research showed that situations have a strong effect on people’s behavior and that people’s responses to situations depend on their thoughts about the likely consequences of their behavior. Mischel’s research caused considerable debate because it cast doubt on the idea of stable personality traits. Mischel himself did not want to abandon the idea of stable personality traits. He believed that researchers should pay attention to both situational and personal characteristics that influence behavior. Today, most psychologists acknowledge that both a person’s characteristics and the specific situation at hand influence how a person behaves. Personal characteristics include innate temperaments, learned habits, and beliefs. The environment includes opportunities, rewards, punishments, and chance occurrences. Personality results from a two-way interaction between a person’s characteristics and the environment. This process of interaction is called reciprocal determinism. People’s characteristics influence the kind of environment in which they find themselves. Those environments, in turn, influence and modify people’s personal characteristics. Critics of the behavioral approach to personality maintain three arguments:    Behaviorist researchers often do animal studies of behavior and then generalize their results to human beings. Generalizing results in this way can be misleading, since humans have complex thought processes that affect behavior. Behaviorists often underestimate the importance of biological factors. By emphasizing the situational influences on personality, some social-cognitive theorists underestimate the importance of personality traits. Universal periods of development Pre-natal development Prenatal development happens in three trimesters (0-12 weeks, 13-24 weeks, 25-38 weeks). After fertilization the cell mutates to joined cells. If two ova were fertilized fraternal twins develop. If mutating cells separate they develop to identical twins. At fertilization the individual receives genetical potential. Some times genetical anormaries occur leading to conditions such as Klinefelters syndrome, Turners syndrome and Downs syndrome. The full inherited genes are referred to as genotype while the expressed genes are referred to as phenotype. If two oocytes were fertilized they develop to fraternal twins who are two very different being genetically. The zygote travels through the oviduct to the uterus. The single cell divides rapidly. At the initial stages the Zygote can divide into two or more separate cells. These develop to identical beings genetically. The mitosis subdivision of cell forms into a ball like structure. The Zygote then collapses into three layers (endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm) which later specialize into various organs. The endoderm forms: the stomach, the colon, the liver, the pancreas, the bladder, the epithelial parts of trachea, the lungs, the pharynx, the thyroid, the parathyroid, and the intestines. The mesoderm forms: muscle (smooth and striated), bone, cartilage, connective tissue, adipose tissue, circulatory system, lymphatic system, dermis, genitourinary system, serous membranes, and notochord, cornea, tooth enamel, the epithelium of the mouth and nose. The ectoderm develops to peripheral nervous system, adrenal medulla, melanocytes, facial cartilage, dentin of teeth, brain, spinal cord, posterior and anterior pituitary, motor neurons and retina. The developing embryo must implant into the wall of the uterus within seven days, or it will deteriorate and die. The outer layers of the zygote (blastocyst) grow into the endometrium by digesting the endometrial cells, and wound healing of the endometrium closes up the blastocyst into the tissue. Another layer of the blastocyst, the chorion, begins releasing a hormone called human beta chorionic gonadotropin (β-HCG) which makes its way to the corpus luteum and keeps that structure active. This ensures adequate levels of progesterone that will maintain the endometrium of the uterus for the support of the developing embryo. Pregnancy tests determine the level of β-HCG in urine or serum. If the hormone is present, the test is positive. The placenta takes over the nutrient and waste requirements of the embryo and fetus, with the mother’s blood passing nutrients to the placenta and removing waste from it. Chemicals from the fetus, such as bilirubin, are processed by the mother’s liver for elimination. Some of the mother’s immunoglobulins will pass through the placenta, providing passive immunity against some potential infections. Internal organs and body structures begin to develop during the first trimester. By five weeks, limb buds, eyes, the heart, and liver have been basically formed. By eight weeks, the term fetus applies, and the body is essentially formed. Sense of touch develops in the embryonic stage (5 to 8 weeks). The individual is about five centimeters (two inches) in length and many of the organs, such as the lungs and liver, are not yet functioning. Exposure to any toxins is especially dangerous during the first trimester, as all of the body’s organs and structures are going through initial development. Anything that affects that development can have a severe effect on the fetus’ survival. The senses develop in the womb itself: a fetus can both see and hear by the second trimester (13 to 24 weeks of age). Most of the brain's billions of neurons also are developed by the second semester. In this 12- to 14-week-old embryo, nerve cells are proliferating at the rate of about 15 million per hour. The essential stages in brain cell development are (1) proliferation of a vast number of undifferentiated brain cells; (2) migration of the cells toward a predetermined location in the brain and the beginning of their differentiation into the specific type of cell appropriate to that location; (3) aggregation of similar types of cells into distinct regions; (4) formation of innumerable connections among neurons, both within and across regions; and (5) competition among these connections, which results in the selective elimination of many and the stabilization of the 100 trillion or so that remain. These events do not occur in rigid sequence but overlap in time, from about 5 weeks after conception onward. After about 18 months of age, no more neurons are added, and the aggregation of cell types into distinct regions is roughly complete. But the pruning of excess connections—clearly a process of great importance for the shape of the mature brain—continues for years. At about the midpoint of pregnancy, from about 15 to 20 weeks after conception, the number of brain cells in the cerebral cortex increases rapidly; by the seventh month, the fetus is emitting its own brain waves, which can be detected through the mother's abdomen. Brain cells connections begin though at a slow pace. During the second trimester, the fetus grows to about 30 cm (12 inches). It becomes active and the mother usually feels the first movements. All organs and structures continue to develop. The placenta has taken over the functions of nutrition and waste and the production of estrogen and progesterone from the corpus luteum, which has degenerated. The placenta will continue functioning up through the delivery of the baby. Some primitive reflexes too arise from second trimester and are still present in newborns. One hypothesis is that these reflexes are vestigial and have limited use in early human life. Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggested that some early reflexes are building blocks for infant sensorimotor development. For example the tonic neck reflex may help development by bringing objects into the infant's field of view. It has also been suggested that some reflexes (for example the moro and walking reflexes) are predominantly adaptations to life in the womb with little connection to early infant development. Primitive reflexes reappear in adults under certain conditions, such as neurological conditions like dementia or traumatic lesions. During the third trimester, 25-38 weeks the fetus grows to 3 to 4 kg (6 ½ -8 ½ lbs.) and about 50 cm (19-20 inches) long. This is the period of the most rapid growth during the pregnancy. Organ development continues to birth (and some systems, such as the nervous system and liver, continue to develop after birth). A baby will be born with 50% of brain cells and twice as much neurons as an adult. The mother will be at her most uncomfortable during this trimester. She may urinate frequently due to pressure on the bladder from the fetus. There may also be intestinal blockage and circulatory problems, especially in her legs. Clots may form in her legs due to pressure from the fetus on returning veins as they enter the abdominal cavity. Babies are hence born with some odor, taste and sound preferences, largely related to the mother's environment. Labor is the physical efforts of expulsion of the fetus and the placenta from the uterus during birth (parturition). Toward the end of the third trimester, estrogen causes receptors on the uterine wall to develop and bind the hormone oxytocin. At this time, the baby reorients, facing forward and down with the back or crown of the head engaging the cervix (uterine opening). This causes the cervix to stretch and nerve impulses are sent to the hypothalamus, which signals for the release of oxytocin from the posterior pituitary. The oxytocin causes the smooth muscle in the uterine wall to contract. At the same time, the placenta releases prostaglandins into the uterus, increasing the contractions. A positive feedback relay occurs between the uterus, hypothalamus, and the posterior pituitary to assure an adequate supply of oxytocin. As more smooth muscle cells are recruited, the contractions increase in intensity and force. Several environment agents—teratogens—can cause damage during the prenatal period. These include prescription and nonprescription drugs, psychoactive drugs and substances (such as tobacco, alcohol, cocaine) environmental pollutants, infectious disease agents (such as the german rubella virus, syphilis the toxoplasmosis bacterium and zika virus), maternal malnutrition, maternal emotional stress and Rh factor blood incompatibility between mother and child and x rays. Infancy Infants can be seen to have six states, grouped into pairs: • quiet sleep and active sleep (dreaming, when REM sleep occurs) • quiet waking, and active waking • fussing and crying Some abilities are fully developed at birth such as smell and hearing. Proper vision, however, takes time to develop. Infants can't clearly see far way objects. Their vision is only 20/600, so they can only see objects about eight to 14 inches away. Developing depth perception and focusing on distant objects take up to nine months. By his first birthday, your baby will triple his weight, growing almost 10 inches in length. Subsequently, the growth rate slows; two and half inches per year is normal. Along with physical growth, sensory development and motor skills discovery are the primary changes taking place. Your baby begins to touch, feel and taste objects, building a bank of information for future reference. This is a time of simple motor skill development. The baby can grasp, begin to move body parts at will, and later, begin to sit up, crawl, play with objects, walk, fall down and get back up. Language: Babies are born with the ability to discriminate virtually all sounds of all human languages. Infants of around six months can differentiate between phonemes in their own language, but not between similar phonemes in another language. At this stage infants also start to babble, producing phonemes. Toddlerhood 1-2 years Babies between ages of one and two are called toddlers. In this stage, intelligence is demonstrated through the use of symbols, language use matures, and memory and imagination are developed. Thinking is done in a non-logical, nonreversible manner. Egocentric thinking predominates. Socially, "They walk, talk, use the toilet, and get food for themselves. Self-control begins to develop. If taking the initiative to explore, experiment, risk mistakes in trying new things, and test their limits is encouraged by the caretaker(s) the child will become autonomous, self-reliant, and confident. If the caretaker is overprotective or disapproving of independent actions, the toddler may begin to doubt their abilities and feel ashamed for the desire for independence. The child's autonomic development will be inhibited, and be less prepared to successfully deal with the world in the future. Early childhood The growth between two and seven years is less than the previous two. She will grow about two and a half inches per year with weight accumulation of about five to seven pounds per year, but she will begin to lose her baby fat. Girls will still have more fat the boys and boys more muscle than girls. Another important change during this time is that your child's daily caloric requirement is markedly higher, requiring about 1,700 calories per day. This is the age between 2-6 years. Average child grows at the range of 2 ½ inches in height and 2.67-3.18 kg per year. The height and weight increase decrease as the child grow older. They slim and their body lengthens. They are fascinated by their as well as other family members’ bodies. The brain does not grow as rapidly as in infancy at 5 years it grows to about ¾ of the adult size. By 3 years a child gains to about 80% of brain cells and by 5 years it reaches about 90% of brain cells. Nerve cells increase and myelination happens. They are often far sighted not being able to see near as they would see far. They may develop lazy eye one eye failing to see as effectively as the other. They develop greater capacity for gross motor skills becoming more adventurous in their environment. They are very active. It is god preschool teachers develop programs that encourage development of gross motor skills. They also develop significantly in fine motor skills. At this age they are likely to experience nightmare, night terrors and somnambulism (sleep walking and talking). Middle Childhood (pre-school age/exploratory age/toy age) When children attend preschool, they broaden their social horizons and become more engaged with those around them. Impulses are channeled into fantasies, which leaves the task of the caretaker to balance eagerness for pursuing adventure, creativity and self-expression with the development of responsibility. If caretakers are properly encouraging and consistently disciplinary, children are more likely to develop positive self-esteem while becoming more responsible, and will follow through on assigned activities. As children grow their past experiences will shape who they are, allow them to perceive the world in their own way. It helps a person go through everyday life. (Psychology: The Science of Behaviour, Fourth Canadian Edition by Neil R. Carlson, William Buskist, C. Donald Heth, and Rod Schmaltz). If not allowed to decide which activities to perform, children may begin to feel guilt upon contemplating taking initiative. This negative association with independence will lead them to let others make decisions in place of them. Children go through the transition from the world at home to that of school and peers. Children learn to make things, use tools, and acquire the skills to be a worker and a potential provider. Children can now receive feedback from outsiders about their accomplishments. If children can discover pleasure in their activities, including their intellectual stimulation, most importantly in learning reading, writing, and basic math, they will develop a sense of competence. If they are not successful or cannot discover pleasure in the process, they may develop a sense of inferiority and feelings of inadequacy that may haunt them throughout life. This is when children think of themselves as industrious or as inferior. Late Childhood Children seven to 12 years old develop greater control of their motor skills, allowing them to accomplish more complex tasks than in early childhood. In this period, your child will begin to ride bikes, skate, jump rope and play other more physical games. These activities involve large muscle groups and gross motor skills in which boys generally outperform girls. Girls, however, do better at fine motor skill tasks. Fine motor skills, such as painting and drawing, require more dexterity and involve the smaller muscle groups such as hands and fingers. Your child will put on weight at a rate of five to seven pounds per year and grow two to three inches per year. By the end of this period, boys should be about 4.8 feet tall and girls 4.83 feet tall. Body fat continues to decline, and by age 12, most baby fat is gone. Adolescence At this stage sex hormones follicle stimulating hormone and Luteinizing hormone (at the brain), estrogen, and testosterone (at the gonads) and capacity for progesterone gonad, oxytocin and prolactin hormones (brain) is are achieved. They facilitate rapid growth and primary and secondary sexual characteristics as well as preparing females for motherhood (maintaining pregnancy, facilitating delivery and milk letdown and production). Their bodies begin to take on characteristics of an adult. In this pubescent period (8 to 15), a child's body moves from childhood to adulthood. Puberty usually lasts two to five years. Girls (8 to 13 years old) generally began this transition earlier than boys (10 to 15 years old). This includes sexual development and drastic changes in body contours that no longer resemble that of a child. Brain cells connection increases and pruning of excess neurons is completed improving attention span and cognitive stability. Cognitively they achieve abstract thinking with limited experience hence higher chances for errors of judgment. Social-emotionally, Adolescents transit from social-emotional instability to the full commitment to an adult social-emotional role, such as worker, parent, and/or citizen. It is the period known for the formation of personal and social identity and the discovery of moral purpose. Central components of identity include: (1) a sense of personal continuity over time and across situations; (2) a sense of inner agency; (3) a commitment to certain self-representations as selfdefining; (4) a commitment to certain roles as self-defining; (5) an acknowledgment of one's role commitments and views of self by significant others; (6) a commitment to a set of core values and ideal self-standards, and (7) a commitment to a worldview that gives life meaning (Erikson, 1959). Identity formation goes through four stages: 1) Identity diffusion, describes youth who have neither explored nor committed to any particular identity. Thus, this identity status represents a low level of exploration and a low level of commitment. Their primary motivation is hedonic; the avoidance of discomfort and the acquisition of pleasure. 2) Identity foreclosure status. This identity status represents a low degree of exploration but a high degree of commitment. At this identity status adolescents are not actively trying to determine what is important to them or questioning the values and beliefs they have been taught. Instead, they passively accept the identity assigned to them. 3) Identity moratorium. This identity status represents high degree of exploration but a low degree of commitment. At this status, youth are in the midst of an identity "crisis" which has prompted them to explore and experiment with different values, beliefs, and goals. They are not yet committed to a particular identity. 4) Identity achievement. This identity status represents both a high degree of exploration and a high degree of commitment. Youth are said to have achieved their identity by a process of active exploration and strong commitment to a particular set of values, beliefs, and life goals that has emerged from this active exploration and examination. They are able to prioritize what is important to them and have sorted through the many possibilities of who they want to be. They achieve 100% brain cells and rapid brain cells connections which enhances their cognitive abilities. Intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts and formal reasoning. A return to egocentric thought often occurs early in the period. Only 35% develop the capacity to reason formally during adolescence or adulthood. (Huitt, W. and Hummel, J. January 1998) It is divided into three parts namely: 1. Early Adolescence: 11 to 12 years (preteen, tween), 2. Mid Adolescence: 13 to 15 years and 3. Late Adolescence: 16 to 19 years When puberty starts early Girls who mature early: Boys who mature early: Advantages of maturing early   Disadvantages of maturing early   May be more popular with boys. This can make them more popular with other teens, leading to early dating and a more active social life.  May have an easier time coping with the stresses of adulthood. These girls have more social experiences. May be embarrassed about having periods, developing breasts, and growing taller sooner than their peers.  May look more like adults and be expected to act like adults.  May have problems dating if they are not emotionally ready. Often do well in sports because of their physical maturity.  May seem more attractive to girls because girls usually mature earlier than boys.  Are often seen as leaders by other teens. May feel pressure to grow up too soon and to take on duties that they may not be ready for.  May have problems dating if they are not emotionally ready.  May not have enough time to enjoy being a When puberty starts early Girls who mature early:  Boys who mature early: May have less time to adjust to puberty due to early development. teenager. When puberty starts late Girls who mature late: Advantages maturing late Boys who mature late: of Disadvantages of maturing late     May enjoy relatively "safe" teenage years because they have more time to get emotionally ready for puberty.  May not be pressured to date too early or have sex. May be anxious, wondering when their bodies will develop.  May be made fun of by other teens.  May stay "childlike" longer. May grow up with strong coping skills and greater curiosity because they developed later.  May be more focused on school and getting good grades than on dating. May find it harder to compete in sports, date, or take on leadership activities because of their delayed physical development. Early adulthood Physically, people at this stage are at the peak of physical abilities. Physical maturation maximizes therefore leading to maximum potential for cognitive and social-emotional abilities. The basal metabolism rate is at the peak, muscular skeletal development peaks and they achieve increased brain cells connection. They peak in gross and fine motor skills enhancing their efficacy in terms of vigor, speed and accuracy in motor activities. Social-emotionally, the person must learn how to form intimate relationships, both in friendship and love. The development of this skill relies on the resolution of other stages. It may be hard to establish intimacy if one has not developed trust or a sense of identity. If this skill is not learned the alternative is alienation, isolation, a fear of commitment, and the inability to depend on others. At the ages of 25 and 30 years quarter-life crisis typically occurs. It often revolves around the challenges that arise from young adults newly living life on their own and feeling overwhelmed with new responsibilities; it can also happen after the birth of a child or if a person graduates from college and cannot find a job in their chosen field. In this stage of life, young people may worry about their future, wonder if they’ve made poor choices, or wonder what life might hold for them now. They are also concerned with broader societal social life such the development of sociopolitical views and social cultural responsibilities. During early adulthood, cognition begins to stabilize, reaching a peak around the age of 35. Early adulthood is a time of relativistic thinking, in which young people begin to become aware of more than simplistic views of right vs. wrong. They begin to look at ideas and concepts from multiple angles and understand that a question can have more than one right (or wrong) answer. The need for specialization results in pragmatic thinking—using logic to solve real-world problems while accepting contradiction, imperfection, and other issues. Finally, young adults develop a sort of expertise in either education or career, which further enhances problem-solving skills and the capacity for creativity. Middle Age Physically, the basal metabolism rate reduces hence the middle-aged experience a decline in muscular strength, reaction time, sensory keenness, and cardiac output. Most people between the ages of 40 and 60 will need some form of corrective lenses for vision deficits. Middle-aged adults are also at higher risk than younger adults for certain eye problems, such as glaucoma. Hearing also further declines, skin continues to dry out and is prone to more wrinkling, particularly on the sensitive face area. Age spots and blood vessels become more apparent as the skin continues to dry and get thinner. The muscle-to-fat ratio for both men and women also changes throughout middle adulthood, with an accumulation of fat in the stomach area. Also, women experience menopause and a sharp drop in the hormone estrogen. Men experience an equivalent endocrine system event to menopause. Andropause in males is a hormone fluctuation with physical and psychological effects that can be similar to those seen in menopausal females. As men age, lowered testosterone levels can contribute to mood swings and a decline in sperm count. Sexual responsiveness can also be affected, including delays in erection and longer periods of penile stimulation required to achieve ejaculation. They may start losing some brain cells hence fluid intelligence may start declining as crystalized intelligence increases but at a slow rate. Cognitively, two forms of intelligence—crystallized and fluid—are the main focus of middle adulthood. Our crystallized intelligence is dependent upon accumulated knowledge and experience—it is the information, skills, and strategies we have gathered throughout our lifetime. This kind of intelligence tends to hold steady as we age—in fact, it may even improve. For example, adults show relatively stable to increasing scores on intelligence tests until their mid- 30s to mid-50s (Bayley & Oden, 1955). Fluid intelligence, on the other hand, is more dependent on basic information-processing skills and starts to decline even prior to middle adulthood. Cognitive processing speed slows down during this stage of life, as does the ability to solve problems and divide attention. However, practical problem-solving skills tend to increase. These skills are necessary to solve real-world problems and figure out how to best achieve a desired goal. Social-emotionally middle aged adults experience Erikson’s stage of generativity vs. stagnation, a time when people think about the contribution they are making to the world. Generativity involves finding one’s life’s work and contributing to the development of others through activities such as volunteering, mentoring, and raising children; those who do not master this task may experience a feeling of stagnation. The main triggers for a mid-life crisis include problems with work, trouble in a marriage, children growing up and leaving the home, or the aging or death of a person’s parents and physiological changes. Individuals having a mid-life crisis may experience some of the following:      a search for an undefined dream or goal; a deep sense of regret for goals not accomplished; a fear of humiliation among more successful colleagues; a desire to achieve a feeling of youthfulness; a need to spend more time alone or with certain peers Old Age Physically, older people experience a decline in basal metabolism rate hence reduced muscular strength, reaction time, stamina, hearing, distance perception, and the sense of smell. They also are more susceptible to severe diseases such as cancer and pneumonia due to a weakened immune system. Mental disintegration due to brain cell degeneration may also occur, leading to dementia or ailments such as Alzheimer's disease. Certain parts of the brain shrink, especially those important to learning and other complex mental activities, in certain brain regions, communication between neurons (nerve cells) can be reduced, blood flow in the brain may also decrease and inflammation, which occurs when the body responds to an injury or disease, may increase. Factors such as active physical life, physical therapy and exercise have been identified as potential modulators of rate of physical decline. Because of a lifetime's accumulation of antibodies (among other factors), some of the elderly are less likely to suffer from certain ordinary diseases such as the common cold. Their sexual ability declines with women experiencing total menopause while males decline in stamina, sperm count and healthy sperms as sex hormones decline. This stage generally refers to those over 60+ years. According to Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development, old age is the stage in which individuals assess the quality of their lives. In reflecting on their lives, people in this age group develop a feeling of integrity if deciding that their lives were successful or a feeling of despair if evaluation of one's life indicates a failure to achieve goals. Expression [|sexuality in older age|] depends in large part upon the emotional and physical health of the individual. Many older adults may continue to be sexually active and satisfied with their sexual activity. Cognitively whether or not intellectual powers increase or decrease with age remain controversial. Longitudinal studies have suggested that intellect declines, while cross-sectional studies suggest that intellect is stable. It is generally believed that crystallized intelligence increases at a lower rate up to old age, while fluid intelligence decreases with age. Active intellectual life may prolong healthy mental function at old age. Role of Play in Human Growth and Development Definition of Play Play is that activity through which child learns by doing with the least amount of resistance. It is a behaviour format which can facilitate report and communication and through which information and learning can pass between child and adult. Play is a natural activity for children. It is a way in which children explore their environment and come to terms with its realities. Parents are often faced with the difficulty of finding effective methods to implement in order to facilitate the child's growth. In this situation, play may be used not only as a basic activity resource but in many instances as an appropriate child care methodology. Play is a behaviour format which can facilitate rapport and communication and through which information and learning can pass between child and adult. Child care practice can utilize the high levels of motivation that is apparent in play as well as its undeniable educational value. In order to do so, there is need to establish the validity of play in respect of child development. There is need to place play within a theoretical framework and to integrate this knowledge into our child care techniques. In an attempt to understand how play and development interact, let us look at the role of play in the next section. 7.4 THE ROLE OF PLAY Following are some major roles of play: 1. Play activity provides a stable, logical, preverbal structure to which the child applies his reasoning. The reasoning is put into language and the language in turn assists reasoning because it helps the child to recognize what others think of his speech efforts. Children talk their mind out during play, this way they hear their own thoughts. This assists in reasoning. 2. Play facilitates language acquisition and skills by providing a vehicle through which language can be practiced and encouraged. For instance, children use words in play and hence practice the use of language. Through play children also imitate what they hear adults speak. 3. Through play the child learns to express himself in a unique and individual manner. He discovers qualities about himself and finds his own sense of satisfaction. For instance in play, the child can construct 'as if' situations in which he can play mother, father, sister, teacher, etc. In the acting out of various situations and roles, play has a constructive function. 4. It is an attempt by the child to master and integrate reality. In this sense play also has the adaptive function of defusing and divesting situations of their negative and threatening qualities. This facilitates the positive assimilation of experiences for the child. 5. Play is a process of experimentation and exploration. Children learn how to handle different things, master how to aim, pour and mix things through play. 6. Through play the child attempts to master various skills to cope with his changing roles in a changing environment, to assimilate and integrate processes and to develop an adaptive and individual personality. Types of Play a. Unoccupied Play: Unoccupied play refers to activity when a child actually isn't playing at all. He may be engaged in seemingly random movements, with no objective. Despite appearances, this is definitely play and setting the stage for future play exploration. b. Solitary (Independent) Play : Just what it sounds like—when your child plays alone. This type of play is important because it teaches a child how to keep himself entertained, eventually setting the path for being self-sufficient. Any child can play independently, but this type of play is the most common in younger children around ages 2 or 3. At that age, they are still pretty self-centered and lack good communication skills. If a child is on the shy side and doesn't know his playmates well, he may prefer this type of play. c. Onlooker Play: Onlooker play is when a child simply observes other children playing and doesn't partake in the action. It's common in younger children who are working on their developing vocabulary. Don't worry if your little one is behaving this way. It could be that the child feels shy, needs to learn the rules, or maybe is the youngest and wants just to take a step back for a while. d. Parallel Play: Put two 3-year-olds in a room together and this is what you are likely to see: the two children having fun, playing side by side in their own little world. It doesn't mean that they don't like one another, they are just engaging in parallel play. Despite having little social contact with her playmate, children who parallel play actually learn quite a bit from one another like taking turns and other social niceties, because even though it appears they aren't paying attention to each other, they truly are and often mimic the other one's behavior. As such, this type of play is viewed as an important bridge to the later stages of play. e. Associative Play: Slightly different from parallel play, associative play also features children playing separately from one another, but in this mode of play, they are involved with what the others are doing—think children building a city with blocks. As they build their individual buildings, they are talking to one another and engaging each other. This is an important stage of play because it helps little ones develop a whole host of skills— socialization (what should we build now?) and problem solving (how can we make this city bigger?), cooperation (if we work together we can make our city even better!) and language development (learning what to say to get their messages across to one another). Through associative play is how children begin to make real friendships. f. Cooperative Play: Where all the stages come together and children truly start playing together. Common in older preschoolers (or in younger preschoolers who have older siblings or have been around a lot of children), cooperative play brings together all of the social skills your child has been working on and puts them into action. Whether they are building a puzzle together, playing a board game, or an outdoor group game, cooperative play really sets the stage for future interactions as your child matures into an adult. g. Competitive Play: Whether she's beating her brother at Chutes and Ladders or playing on a local soccer team, your child is engaging in competitive play. Rules and turn-taking, and functioning as part of a team are the big lessons taken from this type of play. You may have to give your child guidance about dealing with both winning and losing. Factors that Reduce the Amount of Play for Children 1. Focus on Academics Despite the numerous benefits derived from play for both children and parents, time for free play has been markedly reduced for some children. Many school children are given less free time and fewer physical outlets at school by reducing time committed to break. Creative arts, and even physical education are also been reduced in an effort to focus on reading and mathematics. This change may have implications on children’s ability to store new information, because children’s cognitive capacity is enhanced by a clear-cut and significant change in activity. Reduced time for physical activity may be contributing to the discordant academic abilities between boys and girls, because schools that promote sedentary styles of learning become a more difficult environment for boys to navigate successfully. Ecological Influences on Child Development In the previous lessons, we discussed how child development occurs in the brain and in the three distinct areas. That is physical, cognitive and social-emotional. We also looked at the stages within which the development takes place. This development of children and young people and their subsequent life chances in adulthood are the product of a complex set of interacting factors, at individual, family and community levels. An ecological framework is used to examine the mutual influences between the different systems that are important during childhood. In this lecture we shall therefore try to examine the ecological factors that influence child development. Ecological Influence on Human Growth and Development Family Environment and Child Development The Family Pediatrics Report (2003) indicated that, “Families are the most central and enduring influence in children’s lives regardless of their education, composition, income, or values.” The Structure of the Family The Family Pediatrics Report (2003) explained that the development of children is significantly influenced by interpersonal relationships within the family. Children who are raised by 2 parents, who are both responsible and dedicated, usually perform well in school. Affection and protection are evidently crucial for the health of a child. Thus children need to receive love and protection for their healthy emotional development. Critical to emotional needs of children is the nature of family structure. There are more families with a single head of household or 2 working parents and fewer multigenerational households in which grandparents and extended family members can watch the children. Therefore, fewer families have available adult supervision in the home during the workday, which makes it necessary for children to be in child care or other settings in which they can be monitored by adults throughout the day. Organized after-school activities and academic enrichment opportunities offer valuable alternatives to children who might otherwise be left with minimal or no adult supervision. The Function of the Family The organization of the family has direct effect on the children. The first social relationship of children is familial, where children acquire their first experiences of being treated as persons in their own right. Children receive care for their dependency and attention for their sociability. The kind of care and attention children receive during their early years of life affect their handling of important issues, such as trust vs.distrust and autonomy vs.disunity. This ability equips children for establishing later ties with people outside the family. Newborns are unaware that they are separate and distinct persons. However, as time goes by they become aware that they are separate from their mothers and that there are other members of the household. Children learn that others have interests, wishes, and ways of their own. Children growing up in a household shared with other siblings learn that they have to share the resources of the household. Children learn the ways in which their cooperation is sought and welcomed and the ways in which they may compete for what they want (Elkin and Handel, 1978). Family Circumstances and Children’s Outcomes Children’s inability to cope without the social support of their families can stem from social strains such as parental mental illness, substance abuse, violence, and divorce (Family Pediatrics Report, 2003). According to Goldsmith (2000), parental abusive behavior results from "poor problem solving, negative interpretations of a child behavior, poor impulse control, poor social skills, and poor stress coping" Goldsmith (2001) further suggested that stress leads to problems of parental feelings of depression, helplessness, anger, exhaustion, and marital tension. Parents who develop better management skills can help the family deal with stress and that well developed management skills bring a sense of mastery and a feeling of being in control. A parent who develops such skills will find it easy to form strategies, solve problems, and adjust to change. Birth order The order in which a child is born can have a direct impact on his early development. For example, first-born children in typical families tend to be more controlling and more likely to attend college, while the youngest often has difficulty giving up the baby status in the family. Middle children can turn out to be very flexible and easily adapt to new situations or become frustrated and angry. Poverty and Child Development Poverty creates long-term disadvantages for children. The consequences of poverty include emotional issues, delayed development and lower academic achievement, among others. Poverty and Cognitive development In relation to academics, poverty makes it more likely that children will do poorly in school. Children that live in poor neighborhoods may have families that are not able to provide appropriate developmental stimulation that helps them overcome poverty. The negative impact of being poor starts at birth and continues throughout a child’s educational development. Poverty may lead to malnutrition which can lead to poor brain development. This can lead to poor academic ability of a child. Poverty and Social/Emotional development Poor children may also have challenges with social and emotional development. They are at risk for developing both behavior and emotional problems like impulsiveness, disobedience and difficulty getting along with peers. Family poverty is also correlated with lower self-esteem. In general, poverty makes it harder for children to develop normal emotions to cope with a stressful environment. Poverty and Health Poor children are more likely to have health problems. They may have a low birth weight, which may cause early health issues. Without a foundation of good health, it is difficult for a child reach key developmental goals everything from learning to talk to reading in school. Impact of Community Violence on Child Development Community violence includes many events. It might be a stranger using physical threat or direct violence to take something or hurt someone. It can also be violence between family members, close partners, or peers. These events may include cruel acts such as being shot, raped, stabbed, or beaten. A child's exposure to community violence affects the whole family. Parents are often very worried about their child's health and well-being. The factors that influence the child’s exposure to community violence include:     Living in poor, inner-city areas/slums Being in a gang or using alcohol or drugs. Living in a home with domestic (family) violence. Males see more community violence than do females and are at more risk for physical attacks.  Females are at more risk for sexual assault. Below examines the cognitive, emotional, behavioral and social effects of violence exposure, and highlights the ways in which these effects can disrupt children's adaptation to school and academic competence. Cognitive Effects Exposure to violence, particularly parent-to-child violence, has been associated with problems in children's cognitive processes and poor academic functioning. Researchers have linked exposure to chronic abuse and violence with lower IQ scores, poorer language skills, decrements in visual motor integration skills and problems with attention and memory. Deficits in attention regulation, language skills, and memory undermine the child's ability to accomplish the requirements of academic achievement and school adaptation, namely to encode, organize, recall, and express understanding of new information. Children exposed to violence have lower academic achievements. Emotional Effects Exposure to violence almost always carries emotional consequences for children. Children's exposure to intra-familial violence has been linked to depression and more negative self -concept. Studies have shown that both witnessing and/or being a victim of community violence may put children at risk for increased anxiety and depressive symptoms. Violence exposure can be interpreted by the child to mean not only that the world is unsafe but also that the child is unworthy of being kept safe. Whether related to violence in the home or in the community, these attitudes can undermine children's school adjustment and academic achievement by contributing to negative self-perceptions and problems with depression and anxiety. Behavioral and Social Effects Childhood exposure to violence is associated with a variety of aggressive and otherwise maladaptive behaviors that can disrupt children's school adaptation and academic competence. Such behavior problems not only interfere with classroom learning, they also hamper children's efforts to make friends, another essential task of childhood and an important dimension of school adaptation. Exposure to intra-familial violence has been linked with increased aggression, fighting, "meanness," and generally disruptive behavior. Children exposed to intra-familial violence are reported to have more disciplinary problems at school than their non-exposed peers, and are more likely to be suspended. Likewise, exposure to community violence has been associated with increases in antisocial behavior and aggression, as reported by teachers and parents. Cultural and Maturational Influences Culture shapes experiences and influences children’s development. Through their culture children learn which behaviors and temperaments are preferred or discouraged. For example, independence and self-esteem are valued in some cultures; interdependence and the strong connections are preferred in other cultures. One universal trend is that children Child maturation refers to the genetic, biological and physical development from conception through adolescence. who are prosocial and non-aggressive are liked by other children. There are several developmental milestones that occur in healthy children. Although there are normal patterns of maturation in child development, individual and environmental factors make it impossible to pinpoint exact time frames, as no two children develop in the same way. The timing of physical maturation can affect the child's social and emotional adjustment. Research indicates that the effects for latematuring boys and early maturing girls are largely negative. In general, the impact of the timing of puberty is best understood in the context of other transitions, such as school transitions and family disruptions, which may help or hinder the child's ability to cope with biological changes. There are wide individual differences in rates of maturation. However, in general, girls mature earlier than boys; on average, major changes occur two years earlier for girls. Although early maturation is usually seen as advantageous for boys, girls sometimes find early maturation stressful, developing poor body images and engaging in so-called adult behaviors such as drinking and smoking at an early age.